Five times Obito made friends with Kakashi
by Cyn V
Summary: Or how Obito fared on his first few missions.
1. Mission 01

**Disclaimer: _Naruto_ (c) Kishimoto and probably some other companies whose names I don't know.  
A/N: Enjoy!**

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**Mission #01:**

_Man, how could I let that happen... I totally screwed up..._

Team Minato was coming home from their first mission - a very exhausting first mission, despite initial appearances. When nine-year-old Obito had found out that all they had to do was watch over some lady's mutt, he had been disappointed and frustrated in equal parts. (_This stupid thing is what I spent all this time training for!?_, he'd thought.) Now, he was feeling kind of relieved that it had been just that, rather than something more important.

Somehow, he had lost sight of the dog during his shift and their simple assignment to walk a pet had turned into a village-wide search-and-rescue operation. Minato-sensei had even had to dig up some radio-transmitters from the bottom of his backpack for them to use. Adding to that, since they had been in a very peaceful town in the outskirts of Kohona and the people there weren't used to seeing fully-equipped ninja in action so close to their homes, panic had spread and the blond team leader had been forced to leave Kakashi in charge so he could reassure the villagers that nothing terrible was going on.

_Civilians_, Obito thought caustically. _Things would have gone over so much easier if they'd just cooperated. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with Kakashi's attitude the whole afternoon! It's bad enough that he's already a chuunin, let alone having to do what he says... thinks he's so good, that bastard..._

As if his thoughts had been heard, a brisk "hmph!" came from his right and Obito turned his head to face his grey-haired teammate. There were only a few months' difference between them, but the two acted nothing alike. Kakashi had the perfect narrow-minded mentality to complement his old-man look.

"What kind of _elite_ ninja can't even keep track of a dog?" he said without even bothering to meet the Uchiha's eyes.

Obito would have given him an equally scathing reply if he hadn't noticed their teacher staring at them. Both boys had already gotten a lecture back at the village about the importance of teamwork. Unwilling to have a repeat of that, he held his tongue and busied himself with his orange goggles instead.

_This was only our first mission. Next time, I'll prove to him that I'm as good as he is... no, better!_

_Just you wait, Kakashi..._


	2. Mission 02

**A/N: If it looks like fanservice, that's because it is. ^_^**

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**Mission #02:**

Team Minato's second mission took them away from their home village once more, all the way northeast to the Land of the Rice Paddies.

It wasn't a short or an easy trip, but it had been exciting nonetheless because they'd gotten to see the two giant statues of the founders of Konoha at the Valley of the End as they crossed the border between the two countries. It had been a first for Rin and Obito and they'd been suitably impressed by the grandiose majesty of the twin representations of the First Hokage and of the greatest leader the Uchiha clan had ever known, each standing on opposite sides of a massive waterfall.

Madara Uchiha's tale was one that everyone in the clan learned early on, and Obito was no exception. The sight of the great ninja had inspired the young Uchiha to such an extent that he had sworn to himself there and then that he would live up to their shared name and to the accomplishments that the man had carved in ninja History (apart from his disgraceful downfall, of course). And the first steps down that road were to do well on missions - regardless of how moronic they were - and impress his teammates - meaning: getting Kakashi off his high horse and Rin to notice him.

The rest of the team had been a bit leery when Obito had jumped up and shouted to the four winds that he would _ace_ this mission (enthusiasm was good, but they'd noticed that the little black-haired, goggle-wearing genin tended to get a bit carried away). In the end, though, all had gone smoothly.

They'd had to do a lot of grunt work - opening ditches and cannals to irrigate some plantations - and so it hadn't been until the moon was high that their teacher called their assignment a success. Since it had been too late to hit the road back to Konoha and they'd all been longing for a good, long bath, they'd decided to rent a room and spend the night at the local inn.

Living with two older brothers and one baby sister, Obito had no problems whatsoever with sharing a room with three other people. He had seen, heard and smelled it all before, but there was something keeping him awake that night. It could be that it was just the thrill of having performed as well as that idiot Kakashi during the day, or the slight headache he'd gotten from maintaining more concentration than he was used to over too long a period of time, but the little black-haired nine-year-old could swear that there was something in the air.

He carefully pried back the covers and tip-toed his way over his slumbering teammates until he reached the wall closest to the door. Pressing his ear against the wood, his suspicions were confirmed - there were cries coming from down the hall. It sounded like a woman was in distress!

With all the self-assurance any self-respecting ninja extraordinaire in the making should possess, he strapped on his kunai holster and sped out of the room to rescue the innocent. Stopping to wake his teacher and explain the situation to him was out of the question. It would have taken too much time - time that poor woman might not have! He followed the sounds of agony up to one of the other rooms and didn't hesitate to heroically kick down the door...

That was when the real shouting began.

The entangled couple on the bed, startled by the sudden intrusion, started screaming - and Obito, horrified by the traumatizing sight of naked bodies contorted in ways that should never be attempted, wasn't too far behind. Jolted awake by all the noise, the people who had been sleeping peacefully in the neighbouring rooms were quick to join in, thinking that the inn must be on fire or some such other catastrophe. Everyone who'd been staying there was soon stampeding out of the building in collective hysteria (some lucky enough to be in their pyjamas, others... not), while the nine-year-old Uchiha remained frozen in front of the knocked-down door.

Later on, Obito would realise that the rest of his team must have taken control of the situation at some point to keep the chaos from spreading any further, but by the time Minato-sensei (so worried that something might have happened to his student that he hadn't wasted time to put on more than his pants) found him, the young Uchiha was still too out of it to form any sort of coherent thought. Fortunately, the tousled sheets in the empty bedroom spoke eloquently enough that Obito didn't have to explain anything.

The black-haired genin hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night, even long after everyone had settled back into their rooms and peace had been restored. He doubted he would ever be able to hear one of his bachelor uncle's crude jokes again without cringing.

By next morning, he was still looking a little pale, but more than ready to put the miserable town and the humiliating incident behind him. He couldn't wait to be past the gates of Konoha and away from his teammates. The Uchiha wasn't sure if the others knew that he'd been responsible for the mess of the previous night, but the sooner the danger that his screw up might be discovered was gone, the better.

"Heh." The slight laugh came from Kakashi and Obito's eyes were drawn to his rival like a nail to a magnet. He could swear he saw a smirk forming through the half mask.

"What," he demanded.

"You scream like a girl," the grey-haired genius said, much to Obito's annoyance.

_Damn that Kakashi!_


	3. Mission 03

**A/N: No Kakashi on this one, but I wanted Rin to show up too!**

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**Mission #03:**

Maybe the Hokage had started to see a pattern, because for their third mission, team Minato was confined to Konoha.

Minato had pleaded the Third to send them out of the village again - claiming that they were young and needed to see new things to expand their horizons. He'd also argued that it was bad for Kakashi, who was already a chuunin, to be stuck doing menial tasks. In the end, though, he'd had to agree that every time there were complications during a mission, it sent out a message to the world about the competence of Konoha's ninjas, so it was best to stay close to home until Obito and Rin got used to the ins and outs of active duty.

After leaving the administrative building and setting up a time and place to regroup later, each of them had gone their separate ways. Minato had had some sort of plans for lunch, and Kakashi had just poofed away, mentioning something about blunt kunai. Rin had... not gone anywhere. She was standing very still next to Obito, looking at him.

"Do you..." she began, unsure. "Do you want to have lunch together? We could talk about our next mission or something..."

They were supposed to help out one of the clans with something, Obito thought. What was there to talk abou... he quickly halted that train of thought and backtracked a little. _Rin_ - the most sweet and wonderful girl in the world, whom he'd had a crush on since age six - was asking _him_ to go out with her!

"Sure!! Where do you want to go?"

They ended up going to a little ramen stand nearby. Neither of them were crazy about the food, but it was cheap and not too crowded.

"So..." the Uchiha started after they'd ordered their meals. _What to say... Come on, Obito! Think of something clever, fast - I can't let slip this opportunity!_ "So, umm... aren't you kind of glad that we're getting to stay home this time? All that traveling was really tiring." _And the least time spent around Kakashi the better!_ he added in his head.

"Obito, about that," Rin said, her gentle voice putting an instant smile on the Uchiha's face. "Our last missions didn't go over very well, so I wanted to ask you to maybe take it a little easier this time..."

The nine-year-old almost wished he hadn't taken off his goggles when they'd sat down, because maybe then Rin wouldn't have been able to see his embarrassed flush. He lowered his head, trying to hide from her. _Damn, even she thinks I'm a screw-up now..._

"I mean," she continued, "last time you did really well! But then there was that thing during the night and... I think maybe we should just follow Minato-sensei's and Kakashi's lead for now. We're still learning, after all."

"Yeah, I guess..." He didn't have a problem doing what he was told. He just wanted to show them how good a ninja he was on his own too.

"Great! Then let's both do our best this afternoon!" Rin chirped, and despite everything, Obito couldn't help smiling along.

_Someday, I'll make you notice me. Count on it!_

* * *

When the time came, Obito and Rin walked together to the rendez-vous point since she wasn't sure how to get to where the Aburame - the clan who had requested their assistance - lived. A bespectacled and heavily clad ninja was there to receive them and once the entire team was assembled, the five of them proceeded to a secluded field with multiple small sheds. They stepped inside the closest one.

Rin froze at the door when she saw what was inside: bugs, everywhere.

"This is where the Aburame breed their destruction insects," the ninja explained, helpfully pulling back the sleeve of his large overcoat and releasing a small cloud of said insects from inside it. "You're here to help perform some maintenance work on this compound."

"You mean, cleaning?" Obito asked.

"Among other things."

"Excuse me," their teacher interrupted. "My team is still inexperienced and I know what these bugs are capable of, so I have to ask. Are you sure there won't be any problems?"

"The ones flying loose are harmless. It's the young ones that should not be touched. They are kept in these containers," he pointed to one of the many open crates with seals written on them that were filling up the shed, "but have no way of escaping unless they come in direct contact with a source of chakra. Yes, it is perfectly safe."

"Very well, then," the blond said, satisfied. He then turned to his students, ready to split them into workgroups, and finally noticed that Rin had stayed all the way back at the entrance. "Is everything all right, Rin?"

"Um... yes, nothing's wrong..." she answered. "It's just that... bugs kind of creep me out..."

"That's all right, Rin! I'll cover up for you," Obito immediately offered. Minato smiled, pleased by the young Uchiha's willingness to help out a teammate. However...

"Sorry, Rin, but I can't just excuse you from this. That fear is something you'll have to work on sooner or later."

"Of course, sensei," the girl with the purple-striped face replied, meek voice almost going unheard over the distance.

"That said, I'll put you and Obito on cleaning duty, while Kakashi and I take care of the rest. You should have the least contact with the insects that way, am I right, Aburame?"

"Definitely," the taciturn man confirmed. "You will find all the supplies you need in the cabinets on each of the sheds. As for the rest of you, I would like your assistance to perform an inspection on the insect population."

Minato nodded his assent and promptly followed the Aburame outside with Kakashi alongside him. He looked at Obito and Rin one last time before disappearing out the door with a final "be careful, you two."

"Don't worry, Minato-sensei!" Obito called out after them.

Arming themselves with rags and biological detergent that would not harm the small companions of the Aburame, the pair tackled the floors.

Rin's movements were very restrained at first and she kept her head down and her shoulders hunched most of the time, fearful that the bugs might get too close and creep inside her clothes. After four sheds, though, she'd at least relaxed enough to let go of the ends of the long sleeves of her shirt that she'd been keeping bunched up in her grip.

"Hey, Rin," Obito spoke up. He could tell that the girl was still unsure about the insects and so came up with an idea to lighten the mood. "Watch this."

"No, don't!!" Rin shouted in alarm when she saw her teammate plunge one of his arms into a container full of destruction bugs. "Get your arm out of there! Those are the dangerous ones, they'll eat your chakra!"

The nine-year-old Uchiha belatedly remembered that very same fact and pulled out his limb. It came back black from all the tiny bugs that had attached themselves to it. _Oh no, oh no!_ he panicked. _They're gonna drain the life out of me! This can't be happening, I'm too young to die!! I haven't even..._

Rin was on him before he could complete that thought. She carefully pried the bugs loose and threw them back to the container with plastic-gloved hands. Obito just looked on at her with fascination, elated that he had such a smart and brave friend.

"Obito, you need to think before doing things!" she scolded him, too glad that the insects weren't putting up a fight to be truly upset.

The black-haired genin was getting woozy by the time all the bugs had been taken off of him - he was sure he would fall unconscious any minute now - but he still had enough presence of mind to say: "Hey... at least you got over your fear..."

"Oh, silly..." She chuckled and gave him a relieved hug. Obito's heart skipped a beat and he could swear he'd just gotten lighter somehow.

_Too bad I'm about to pass out, because this... feels... really..._


	4. Mission 04

**Mission #04:**

Obito's kick was probably too rough for a simple round of training, but it wasn't like he could be bothered to hold it back. His teacher had gone with Rin to fetch the orders for their next mission - which was bound to be as crappy as everything else they'd been asked to do so far - leaving him with Kakashi for a partner.

"Worried about something?" The unusually thoughtful question wasn't the kind of thing the young Uchiha ever expected to come out of his arch-enemy's lips, so he didn't answer straight away. Like their teacher Minato always said, _"look underneath the underneath"._ Kakashi was too hopeless a bastard to ever care about what Obito might or might not feel, so a punch line was sure to follow shortly.

It did come, rather literally, when Kakashi took advantage of the fact that Obito was gaping at him suspiciously to move in close and throw him to the ground. The black-haired nine-year-old was so surprised, he didn't have time to brace for the impact and a couple of tears ended up leaking from his eyes due to pain.

"Heh... I'd be worried too if I was such a useless crybaby," Kakashi commented, without any kind of inflection, as if Obito was as interesting to him as the dirt he was lying upon.

"Damn it, Kakashi! I'll show you who's useless!"

With renewed vigour, Obito jumped back on his feet to tackle his teammate. His eyes glinted with fierceness and his limbs vibrated with unchecked energy, but all his punches were blocked and his kicks evaded. The thought that Kakashi would be smirking beneath that dark blue mask spurred him on and he didn't slow down until he'd used every trick he could think of to get past the other's defenses. For all his efforts, though, all that the genin managed was to get thrown back on his behind.

"Is that all you can do?" the grey-haired chuunin asked. "I'd quit being a ninja if I were you."

"Just you wait. Someday I'll awaken my Sha..." Obito paused mid-shout, all rage suddenly replaced by dread at the most curious sight. "Oh crap... It's _him_!"

Kakashi, even though he thought of the Uchiha as an idiot, knew better than to dismiss that tone of voice. It sounded like his teammate was genuinely afraid of something. He tried to turn around to see what had caught his attention, but found himself hastily being dragged out of the training ground by the Uchiha.

"What are you..." he started to ask, but was promptly shushed and pulled behind a tree. Obito soon hid next to him and both settled down, silent as mice.

Kakashi was starting to wonder if maybe it was some kind of elaborate plan to ridicule him - Obito was known to be somewhat of a prankster - when something he couldn't quite define entered his field of sight. It was green and orange and black - three colours that nature had surely never intended to put together in one element - and it was approaching in wobbly steps. He couldn't get a good enough look to identify it, but apparently his teammate didn't have the same problems.

"Who's that?" he whispered, contemplating the kid who took step after step across the field on his hands, upside down.

"You don't know who Might Guy is?" Obito replied. "Everyone knows who Might Guy is."

Annoyed that he might be behind the Uchiha on something - especially on a crucial ninja skill like information gathering - Kakashi turned back to watch the strange newcomer. He looked to be about the same age as them, with shiny black hair (oiled?) and an eye-sore of an outfit. A red sash around his waist bore the metal plate with the Konoha symbol more commonly found on forehead protectors, marking him as a ninja, however, he couldn't fathom how this Might Guy ever expected to go on missions when all his clothes were in an unstealthy bright green and orange.

Finally, he decided to swallow his pride. Shifting his gaze back to Obito, he repeated his question: "who is he?"

For a moment, Obito just stared at him, wondering. An evil plan to push Kakashi forward into Guy's path was slowly taking shape in his mind. It would be fun to see the obnoxious genius deal with the other kid's flamboyant personality - and no one could say that that wouldn't answer any questions Kakashi might have. Then again, he wouldn't put it past the bastard to drag him along if he did that, and then he'd have to deal with those mentally scarring talks of rivalry and youth too.

"Ok, listen up. You were out of the Academy before either of us even started so you have no idea what we're up against," he explained seriously. "Guy graduated two years before me..."

"Oh, someone else who's better than you."

"...And he's completely crazy!" Obito finished through grit teeth, glaring at his teammate as if willing him to turn into a pile of ash. The plan to let Kakashi meet the other one in person was looking better every second. "Seriously crazy. For some reason, he got it in his head that we're some kind of rivals, so he's always bugging me to go on these weird training sessions with him. I mean, look at him, standing on his hands! What the hell does he think he's doing?!"

"Hm... sensei did tell us we should take this time to practice," the grey-haired chuunin said.

Obito was just about to ask what he meant by that, when a well-placed push on his back forced him out from behind the tree and into the open. He froze and hoped that there was still time to run away and hide again before he was spotted.

"Ah! Obito, my rival!" the shout halted his progress.

_Crap, crap, crap! Kakashi, I'm so going to get you back for this..._

"What a fine day to be out in the fields embracing our glorious youth, don't you think?" Guy had yet to break up his hand stand, so he had to roll his eyes as far up as they'd go to make contact with the area around Obito's chin. The way those black orbs peeked from under humongous bushy eye-brows was rather painful to look at, the Uchiha found.

"Ah, yeah... something like that," he laughed without much inspiration. "Look, I'm waiting for my team to go on a mission, so..."

"REALLY?" The yelled interruption ran up Obito's spine in a most ominous chill. "So am I! I am to go on a mission that requires two teams!" he revealed, before performing a surprisingly acrobatic flip to straighten himself.

"My rival! Fate has determined that we should go together so our flames of youth may reach even greater heights!"

By the time all eight team members had gathered on the clearing, Obito was feeling severely depressed. Rin was looking at him with mild pity, aware of his history with Guy, while Minato smiled in oblivious contentment at all the young, promising genin. Meanwhile, Kakashi had removed himself to the side of the large group in order to stay far away from the weirdoes and attract the least possible attention to himself. His efforts, however, were thwarted as soon as the introductions were made.

Hearing the name Hatake, Guy forgot all about Obito and zeroed in on the acclaimed genius who had become a ninja at the mere age of five. Within moments, he'd unilaterally issued a challenge and refused to hear anything about a decline, no matter how big a hole Kakashi's dead eyes drilled into his skull.

Obito was a bit stung that he was being passed up so easily - Uchiha were the ultimate elite, so it stood to reason that they'd make the best rivals! - but then quickly shook off those foolish thoughts. Guy had decided to bug Kakashi this time. Leaving him free.

He grinned like an evil conspirator.

_Finally! Some pay back..._


	5. Mission 05

**A/N: And here's the last "chapter". I could go on, but I don't think it would take that long before it started getting repetitive. So - thank you to everyone who has reviewed! Even though this isn't a very elaborate fic, I hope you all had/have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Enjoy! (...and review?) ^^**

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**Mission #05:**

It was a beautiful saturday in Konoha, made all the better by the fact that there was no scheduled training that morning. Obito had the day all to himself. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the people were smiling and... was the ground quaking?

A low growl was all the warning the genin got before a one hundred and fifty pound giant dog attached itself to his side.

Obito nearly had a small apoplexy as he saw his whole arm vanish into that cavernous mouth with fangs. Instead, he squeaked - who knew what the dog might do if he screamed? Thankfully, it hadn't actually bit down, so his limb was still pretty much intact. (Pretty much, because he could feel the drool seeping into his clothes and sliding down his skin...) He tried to carefully pull it back, but the brown-furred bulldog immediately put a stop to that attempt by clamping down a bit more forcefully.

"Aah!! Let go, you stupid mutt!" Obito finally lost it. "What do you want from me?!"

Unconcerned eyes peered at the young Uchiha from under droopy folds of skin, and the great dog adjusted its hold on him so that it was now biting up to the shoulder.

Seeing more of himself disappear inside the animal, Obito began to panic. The smell of rotting meat that wafted up to his nose when that giant mouth had opened slightly wasn't adding to the hope that he'd make it out of this in one piece, but he refused to give up. Willing himself to not so much as twitch the arm he was about to lose - because he _really_ didn't want to know what the interior of a dog felt like, and because he was afraid it might cause the bulldog to swallow up a bit more Uchiha - Obito started to look around, hoping to find some nearby restaurant or foodstand he could shout a quick order to.

Instead, he found a little pug with a blue vest - and a Konoha forehead protector?! - speeding its way over to him and looking like it had no intention of stopping. "Uh oh" was all Obito had time to think, before a second little rabid animal attacked him. Little teeth bit into his ankle, and definitely not as gently as the first one.

"Ow!!" he cried. "What the hell?! What am I, some kind of dog lure?"

"Where were you this morning?" he heard a familiar dry voice ask from behind.

Obito had to twist his head as far as it would go in order to scowl at his grey-haired teammate. It figured Kakashi would be nearby when random dogs started attacking and making a fool of him.

"Kakashi!" he shouted. Then he realised that his friend was a genius, so if anyone could help him out of this ridiculous situation, it would be him. "Help!"

"Where were you this morning?" he repeated in his ever-dull tone.

"Ah... what? I don't know, asleep? A little help here?!"

"Do you remember what today is?" Kakashi pressed on, making no move to approach the other.

"Saturday, of course! I'm not stupid," he glared. "Uhh, see these dogs here? Could you..."

"And you can't think of anything special about this saturday?" Kakashi interrupted, his cool mask slipping as a little anger seeped through to his voice.

"Uh... Sensei said there wouldn't be a practice today. What's with the interrogation?"

It looked like Kakashi had finally had enough. His shoulders slumped as he scoffed and turned his back on his trapped teammate to walk away.

"There wasn't a practice today, because we're supposed to go on a mission, idiot. Come on, you're holding up everyone! We've been waiting for you at the gates for hours now."

Obito gasped. He started sweating a little when he remembered that the little paper his sensei had given them to inform the team that they were "free" for the weekend did indeed have something else written on it. He berated himself for not paying more attention and tried to rush off to walk with Kakashi... only to be held in place by two very stubborn dogs.

"Hey, wait up! Help me get rid of these..."

"Bull, Pakkun!" Kakashi called before he could finish and both the bulldog and little pug let go of the young Uchiha to run back happily to the grey-haired chuunin.

"They're yours?!" Obito raged, pointing at his friend with an accusing finger.

Kakashi gave him the usual half-lidded stare, but didn't bother to reply right away as he patted his ninken on their heads, congratulating them on a job well done.

"You're dripping," was his final answer.

Obito didn't miss the other's slight amusement, but he was too caught up on the state of the arm he'd extended to bother with it. He was covered in viscous drool. "Ew..." he moaned, before rounding back on Kakashi. "Next time you come looking for me, tell those_ things_ I'm not dog food!"


	6. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

"Kakashi!" the black-haired genin cried in horror as he saw his teammate jump into the path of an incoming kunai that would have skewered him. He was petrified when the chuunin collapsed on his knees, clutching his midsection. "What... why...?"

A pair of piercing grey eyes fixed on him in response. "Do your job. Go!"

Obito's face softened like he'd just had a breaking revelation. He looked between the bloody teen before him and the area where Minato and Rin were still engaged with the rogues who had attacked the wagon his team was supposed to protect.

"All right, Kakashi," he promised in a rare display of seriousness. "I'll be right back, you hear me? In the meanwhile, stay out of sight."

In truth, the scuffle was over by the time Obito reached the others. The only reason it had even lasted as long as it did was because their sensei had stepped back to give the youths a chance to gain experience by themselves. Once their lives had been endangered, though, the blond had promptly taken charge and brought down the thugs with precise efficiency.

Later, as he was watching Rin treat Kakashi's wound, Obito was struck by the thought that it could have just as easily been him on the receiving end of the medic's ministrations - only, it was likely his injuries would have been past her skills.

It shed a new light on his opinion of Kakashi and planted a seed of doubt in his mind that would bloom over the years over whether or not his obnoxious, infuriating, stiff-backed teammate really was as bad as he'd first thought...


End file.
